White River Junction
A court affidavit filed in connection with a drug raid at the Shady Lawn Motel on Maple Street provides details about the alleged drug trade that police say went on for at least two months in side-by-side rooms.
Travis Popp, who police allege was an accomplice to the armed robberies, and Aaron Butler, who faces drug charges following last week’s raid, were partners who frequently sold heroin and cocaine to several customers, according to the affidavit filed in connection with Butler’s court case.
According to police, customers would first go to Popp’s room and “place an order.” Then Popp would leave his room, go behind the motel and return with the drugs, according to the affidavit, which said that police spoke with several individuals over the past two months who provided information relating to drug sales involving Popp and Butler.
“All of these subjects indicated that they believed that Popp was getting the drugs from the room directly next to his and that he was getting them through the back window so that the transactions could not be seen as the Shady Lawn Motel has several surveillance cameras,” according to the affidavit.
Hartford Police Sgt. Scott Moody last Friday conducted surveillance at the Shady Lawn and observed several subjects enter Popp’s room, according to the affidavit. A man, believed to be Popp, would then exit the room, walk around to the back of the hotel and return a few minutes later, the affidavit states.
Butler’s wife, Kerri, lived in the room with her husband and had been a “registered guest” at the motel since July, according to a separate affidavit filed in Butler’s case.
Police executed a search warrant for both motel rooms last week and found in the Butlers’ room about 80 grams of heroin, an ounce of marijuana, painkillers, an unmeasured amount of cocaine and nearly $16,500 in cash, according to the affidavit.
Kalpesh Patel, owner of the Shady Lawn, said in a telephone interview on Monday that he was unaware of any drug trade at his motel, though he acknowledged that there were a lot of visitors to one of the rooms police had searched.
Patel said the Butlers have been “kicked out,” and he is moving to evict the women with whom Popp was residing.
“It’s bad for business,” Patel said. “I don’t want it anymore.”
The Butlers were arraigned on Monday in Windsor Superior Court on felony heroin trafficking and misdemeanor drug possession charges. They both pleaded not guilty, and Aaron Butler waived extradition; he is wanted in New Hampshire on a parole violation.
Following their arrests on Friday, the Butlers were held on $25,000 cash or surety bail, which they both posted over the weekend. Judge Theresa DiMauro on Monday increased Aaron Butler’s bail to $75,000 cash, but kept Kerri Butler’s bail at $25,000.
DiMauro questioned the Butlers about how they each posted high bail over the weekend, when they wrote on their financial affidavits for a public defender that they don’t have a steady income.
Their public defenders indicated that Aaron Butler’s grandfather helped them out, as well as a bail bondsman.
“The items that were located … would suggest that the two of them were significantly involved in the sale of heroin in this area,” DiMauro said during court proceedings.
Popp was also arraigned on Monday, but in New Hampshire. Police arrested him in a parking lot on Route 12A last week on an unrelated warrant in connection with a July shoplifting charge, authorities said.
He didn’t enter a plea on Monday; Judge Henrietta Luneau held him on $10,000 cash or surety bail.
Justin Hatch, who police allege robbed the Cumberland Farms and Wilder Mobil stores on Jan. 15 and Jan. 17, respectively, pleaded not guilty last week to felony assault and robbery offenses. He remains held without bail. Court documents indicate he had been staying with Popp at the Shady Lawn.
All four individuals — the Butlers, Popp and Hatch — allegedly worked in conjunction, according to an affidavit filed in Hatch’s case.
As far as the Cumberland Farms robbery went, Hatch allegedly held up the gas station, Popp picked him up, the pair went to the Shady Lawn and Popp texted Aaron Butler to buy drugs with the stolen cash, the affidavit said.
Hatch told police he robbed the Cumberland Farms because he felt bad for Popp, who had been “dope sick” and needed money for drugs, the affidavit said.
Meanwhile, Norwich and Hartford police said they have no new leads on the armed robbery at Dan and Whit’s last Friday.
“We haven’t been able to connect the ones in Hartford to that one,” Norwich Police Chief Doug Robinson said on Monday. “We are going on the assumption that they are not related; we haven’t found any connection.”
Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.